2

He estado escuchando una canción del género salsa titulada "Bolobonchi". La canción fue compuesta e interpretada por Joe Arroyo.

Mi pregunta es: ¿Qué significa o qué es Bolobonchi?

I have been listen to a salsa song from a signer called Joe Arroyo, and the name of the song is "Bolobonchi".

What does "Bolobuchi" mean, or what is it?

Improve this question
7
  • Según estos comentarios en Youtube la palabra proviene de una expresión africana que significa alegría. Personalmente no conozco su significado ya que el tema musical es propio de Barranquilla pero Joe Arroyo es escuchado en toda Colombia por quienes gustan de este género musical.
    – Mauricio Arias Olave
    Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 22:55
  • 1
    Seen the lyrics I don't think is a real word used in any Spanish dialect nor slang, but something just made up for the song, like that one of "aserejé ja de je" in which everyone was trying to read much more than what it really had in it...
    – Diego
    Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 22:56
  • This question appears to be off-topic because there is no evidence that this word belongs to any Spanish dialect or slang. It seems this only that singer, and only in that song, uses the term. There is also some kind of hint that might be a word in a different language than Spanish (see the question's comments).
    – Diego
    Commented Nov 28, 2014 at 16:01
  • 1
    I have voted +1 even though it appears not to a Spanish word because I think it's a reasonable question--and I think would be a reasonable answer. If someone were to ask "What does supercalifragilisticexpialidocious mean?" on EL&U (oh look, they did!, I think it is on-topic (and it apparently would be except that it's such a commonly known made-up word with its own Wikipedia article). I don't think this word (made up, or otherwise) is nearly as "general reference," and there's no way a non-native speaker would know.
    – Flimzy
    Commented Nov 29, 2014 at 1:06
  • @Diego I think it makes sense the question, I am a spanish learner and listing to a music in spanish would be natural to ask the meaning of some words.
    – amataratsu006
    Commented Nov 29, 2014 at 1:40

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6

This word indeed is not a Spanish word. Although made popular by Joe Arroyo in Colombia in the early 80's, this song is not originally by him. The original song dates from the mid 70's and is by an Aruban artist named Robert Jeandor.

The original song is in Papiamento which is the native language in the islands of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. The lyrics were adapted by Arroyo to Spanish but the word "Bolobonchi" could not be adapted to Spanish since there is nothing equivalent in the Spanish vocabulary. "Bolobonchi" literally means a "goose egg" (that one gets by bumping one's head).

The song is also not a Salsa but a Tumba, which is an African rhythm used during the Carnival season in the ABC Islands.

The following is a soundcloud link to a more recent rendition by the original artist in the original language.

Improve this answer
2
  • Interesting. I've found (by using an online dictionary) that "bolo bonchi" could mean "tarta de judías" (bean pie).
    – Blas Soriano
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 9:49
  • 1
    Indeed, but that is because you searched it as 2 separate words. "Bolo" in the Papiamento language translates to "pie" in English and the word "boonchi" that translates to "bean" or "beans" (the Papiamento language consists of many words that are derived from other languages, for instance in this case "bolo" which is pie or cake in Portuguese and "boonchi" which is derived from "boontje", dutch for bean(s)). The correct spelling for the name of the song is actually "Bolobonchi" without any spaces (one word) and that translates to a "goose egg"
    – Hose
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 23:59
2

Se trata de una una jitanjáfora:

Se denomina jitanjáfora a un enunciado lingüístico constituido por palabras o expresiones que en su mayor parte son inventadas y carecen de significado en sí mismas. En una obra literaria, su función poética radica en sus valores fónicos, que pueden cobrar sentido en relación con el texto en su conjunto.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    Creo que tu respuesta podría mejorarse añadiendo algo más de contenido, como por ejemplo la definición de jitanjáfora (de la wikipedia o de la rae). Si el enlace dejara de ser operativo la respuesta quedaría casi inservible.
    – Blas Soriano
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 9:46
  • 1
    Gracias @fedorqui, esto lo pasé por alto y después lo olvidé.
    – Rodrigo
    Commented Jun 28, 2016 at 14:13
1

La palabra Bolobonchi no pertenece al idioma español. No sólo no se encuentra en el diccionario de la Real Academia de la Lengua Española, sino que no hay referencias a otros usos de esta palabra fuera de la canción de José Arroyo.

En la canción, Arroyo usa tanto Bolobonchi como Bonchi e incluso "calle Abonchi" para completar la rima. "Bolobonchi" es una palabra inventada traída de otro idioma para esta canción, una expresión pegadiza y desenfadada sin un significado real. Es comparable a otras expresiones en canciones sin ningún significado real como "aserejé" (donde algunos creyeron escuchar un significado real, como "a ser hereje") o "Do wah diddy, diddy, dum diddy do."

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.